Left field: Take HK youth off the bench
U-23 team's disastrous performance at AFC Championship qualifiers proves kids are not alright and need playing opportunities
Plans to include a representative youth team in the Hong Kong Premier League must be encouraged if we are to ever make strides on the international field. The Hong Kong Football Association last month said it was looking at the possibility of assembling a youth team with players on-loan from clubs.
Clubs give young players very few chances to play because most have a full quota of foreigners
This idea was floated after the disastrous run by the national team at the AFC Under-23 Championship qualifiers in Taiwan. They finished winless and bottom of a pool alongside Australia, Myanmar and Taiwan. To rub it in, Hong Kong conceded 11 goals.
It was concluded that the poor results were due to players having few opportunities to hone their skills week-in, week-out. In other words the clubs give them few chances to start, or even come off the bench, because most have a full quota of foreign players - six in the squad and four on the pitch at any one time.
To compound matters, most clubs have foreign players designated as local because they have a permanent ID card, but they are not eligible to play for Hong Kong as they don't have an SAR passport.
With nearly half the team spots taken up by these two categories, and the rest filled by veteran local players, the up-and-coming brigade has few opportunities to showcase their skills. Unless they are of exceptional talent, most of our youth players languish in the Premier League.
In his blog last week, HKFA chief executive Mark Sutcliffe admitted the problem of nurturing young talent was grave. "There are actually very few eligible players playing in the Premier League who are under 23 and very few play in key positions," he said.
This has led to a limited talent pool when it comes to picking a side for tournaments like the AFC Under-23 Championship qualifying. If you throw in the fact that our representative teams, senior included, do not have a dedicated training facility, it makes the situation worse.
Sutcliffe is a firm advocate for having a representative youth side in the city's top competition, simply because it will give the players a chance to play regularly at a competitive level. We agree wholeheartedly and hope all stakeholders are enthusiastic, too.